Lazerfest 2013: Rocking out despite mud

May 11, 2013

Killswitch Engage, a metalcore band from Westfield, Mass., pumps up the thousands of hard-core rock fans at the Central Iowa Expo in Boone on Friday. More than a dozen hard-rock and heavy-metal bands took to two stages to pound out music from early afternoon until well into the night. / Michael Watson/Photos Special to the Register

Crowd members enjoy the 70-degree weather Friday afternoon as they rock to Asking Alexandria, a metalcore band from England.

More

ADVERTISEMENT

BOONE, IA. — Thousands of hard-rock and heavy-metal fans played hooky Friday to attend Lazerfest in Boone, kicking off the festival season in central Iowa.

Alice in Chains, Papa Roach and Bush were the headline performers.

The festival was held a week after a historic May snowfall in Iowa.

The temperature made it up to 70 at the festival, but last week’s snow still had its effect.

Mud was a common feature at Lazerfest when it was held at the Indianola Balloon Grounds — and it reappeared after a dry 2012.

“I think the challenge we had this year was the weather, definitely,” said Ryan Patrick, marketing manager for KAZR-FM 103.3, which puts on the festival. “But we had 6 inches of snow on the ground here last week, so the ability to still pull off the show here is great. If we were at the old location we would have been canceled out on Monday.”

Traffic conditions on Interstate Highway 35 also delayed entry for many into the festival. Accidents and travels to Iowa State University’s graduation tied up the route to the festival.

Lazerfest sent out texts to attendees suggesting an alternate route.

Lazerfest featured two alternating stages of music, with hardly any downtime between acts. The stages were about 100 yards apart, with a path of corn husks spread over the mud between the two.

As soon as one band would stop, nearly the entire crowd would switch over to hear the next band.

Larry Troster, 34, drove over from Manchester to attend his first Lazerfest.

Troster usually attends Rockfest in Kansas City, which is being held today, but Alice in Chains and several other acts prompted him to stay in state this year.

Troster was sprawled out on cardboard boxes obtained from nearby vendors to avoid the mud.

“It’s a beautiful day, but next time I’ll probably bring a blanket so I don’t have to use boxes,” he said.

The British band Young Guns was one of several acts playing their first show in Iowa.

Vocalist Gustav Wood told the crowd he first heard of the state from Slipknot’s 2001 album, “Iowa.”

The crowd was about the same size as in 2012 — an estimated 15,000, festival organizers said late Friday.